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Cecelia, well I'll start with the obvious. To save water there are these things called valves or shut off at each faucet, usually under the sink. If you close them slightly, the water flow will decrease and hopefully nobody will notice. This simple method can save a lot of water especially if people tend to leave faucets running while doing other activities. Water levels in toilet tanks can also be adjusted. Water saving washers can also be installed on faucets.
 As far as electricity goes, there are usually light switches located in rooms and on appliances that can be shut off when they are not in use. A simple sign saying to turn them off may work. Day lighting and reflection is your best option to save on lighting cost. Once people get used to natural lighting they may realize they don't need to have lights on.
 Set computer's and  monitors to shut down or go into energy savings mode. This is usually in the computers bios or settings and can be set for any amount of time from the last keystroke or mouse activity.

Robert, you could fill the collector with a known temperature water. Set a time, then drain the water and take the temperature.  Once you have the delta T, the time, then you can figure out how many BTU's that have been gained  q= kA(T2-T1),  where q will be the heat gain (BTU/hr), k is the conductivity of the material (BTU/hr*ft^2*F), A is the area of the collector (ft^2), T2 and T1(F). Then multiply by the time in the collector to determine BTU's gained.

or hook up a small pump to a known temperature water supply in a bucket, circulate it through the panel for a given time and then take final temperature reading, then calculate q again

Also realize that the amount of solar radiation throughout the year changes so your gain will also change over the course of the year. With solar hot water, it's make what you can when you can and use it wisely.

Can someone tell me what an installer would typically charge to install a 2.6kw full system grid tied micro inverter system on a residential house?

I work as part of the finance team for a chain of luxury stores and recently I feel like we can be saving a lot more in terms of energy and water. I have talked about this idea with my superior and he told me that any changes to how our company is ran must be agreed upon the President and different heads of the company first.
Now, I managed to interest our head of finance with my idea and he has given me a budget to spend on making a detailed proposal. I am now in my planning stage and I've thinking about where I should start first. I want to make it so that we can minimize our carbon footprint. Ourhead of finance has agreed that this will make our company's image better and possibly attract more customers.
Any suggestions or advice on how I can go about achieving this?

How much did it cost you? The weather is also really hot where I lived, I think I will try what you did.

It's not easy to invent and discover something new, it's phenomenal!

Your guidance was very helpful to all for water heater efficiency, but if I want immediate result, so, is there any query to check the solar water heater efficiency level.?� Is there any other short procedure..?
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Lightly used MS2012 for sale.  Purchased it in 2012 and only used on summer weekends.  Works great!!  Includes original documentation, DC connection locknuts, and  covers.  12VDC Only.  2000W (17A Continuous 120V) Pure Sine Wave output and 100ADC Charging in standby.  Also can handle 220V on pass through from generator.  Plug and Play ready.

Great reminders! Honestly, I'm guilty for not knowing some of these tips you provided even if it really takes common sense to know them. Sometimes, we get used to the daily routine we have. Forgetting two or three of these tips may seem small to us but we'll eventually feel the effect someday.

I've been teaching and encouraging my daughter to sell used cans and bottles to buyback collection centers here in Chicago. I would let her keep the money she earns and she was really happy with it even if it's a small amount. My point exactly is, our children need to learn the value of these recyclable materials. They know what to do with them if we educate them properly.